Ninth Little Free Library Installed

Posted: July 29, 2014

The Boys & Girls Club of Erie and Gannon University are
pleased to announce the ninth installation of a Little Free Library, made possible
through a grant from the PNC Foundation.

This donation allowed Sarah Morgan, an AmeriCorps VISTA member at Gannon, to
lead four AmeriCorps VISTA summer associates to do their part to help
promote literacy and a love of reading. Morgan lead this week-long building project as part of
AmeriCorps week.

Erika Ramalho, director of community and government relations stated, "Erie-GAINS is emblematic of Gannon's commitment to
the community and to the students. One of our goals is to
support the collective community work to improve literacy by grade
3. We are proud to increase the number of Little Free
Libraries in the City of Erie while also supporting
students and young leaders to be civically involved."

Little Free Libraries resemble oversized birdhouses and are a
type of community "book exchange." Passersby can take a
book, read it and return it at their convenience. There is no
charge to borrow books and anyone may contribute books on their
own.

In keeping with Gannon's mission of service, volunteerism and
civic engagement, the University introduced the libraries to
northwestern Pennsylvania in November 2012. The first eight
Little Free Libraries were designed and constructed by the students
in the first-year seminar of Karinna Vernaza, Ph.D., associate
professor, mechanical engineering.

John Popoff, chief of operations for the Boys & Girls Club
of Erie stated, "Our agency's mission revolves around inspiring
youth to become productive and engaged citizens. We are
excited to host a Little Free Library for our youth
and for the community around us."

The PNC Foundation's donation was used to purchase materials to
build this library as well as the library at Nate Levy Park. PNC Regional President, Northwestern Pennsylvania, Marlene Mosco
said, "PNC is proud to support innovative education programs and
opportunities to engage in early education initiatives. PNC is committed to early education and literacy as part of our Growing Up Great corporate initiative."